1. Technical field
The present invention relates to a semiconductor element carrying equipment and more particularly, to a semiconductor element carrying equipment for surely capturing and collecting a semiconductor element dropped from a carrying line including work stages, such as stages inspecting the semiconductor elements.
2. Background Art
A semiconductor integrating circuit device (IC) includes one or plural semiconductor chips fabricated with plural electrical circuit elements therein. The IC has plural lead wires constructed for installing on a circuit board such as a printed circuit board. An inspecting process is included in a manufacturing process of IC, and a work stage for inspecting an appearance of the lead wires of IC is included in the inspecting process. A work stage for inserting and extracting the lead wires of IC to and from a test socket is also included in the inspecting process. In these work stages as mentioned above, a carrying line is installed, and IC is carried into or taken out of the carrying line and inserted into or extracted from the test socket for inspecting along the carrying line. In carrying IC, for example, a vacuum adsorption tool for adsorbing IC is used wherein some ICs may drop from the carrying line due to a failure in carrying caused by an inadequate adsorption.
Generally, it is not easy for the workers to find and recover ICs dropped from the carrying line, and a shortage in a total number of ICs inspected could occur with dropped ICs left in an inspector or in an inserting and extracting machine. In this case, IC dropped is recoverable when the worker finds it. However, there are some problems such that a possibility wherein ICs mixed with those of a different type are carried to the following process, as it is a general practice to use the common inspecting machine for the same package with the different type of ICs.
A prior art of a testing machine for IC to cope with the problems is disclosed in Japanese laid open patent No.11-116134. The testing machine according to the prior art is one wherein IC to be tested supplied continuously from a magazine are distributed at the distributing part to a testing part along the plural guide rails, tested according to a predetermined procedure at the testing part and stored into the magazine after being classified as a good or a bad element based on a test result. An exterior cover of a machine room comprising the distributing part of IC is composed of the first cover and the second cover wherein the first cover with a transparent window mainly covers a bottom side of the machine room, the second cover mainly covers a front side of the machine room and an opening for taking out dropped IC is installed in the machine room between the first cover and the second cover. Furthermore, in a configuration of the testing machine for IC, a drawer is installed to recover dropped IC at the bottom of the machine room composing the distributing part. Based on the testing machine for IC, check and recovery of ICs dropped into the machine room can be easily realized.
The testing machine for IC as above mentioned in Japanese laid open patent No. 11-116134 is configured wherein only ICs dropped to the first cover are recoverable out of entire ICs dropped to a supply gate side from a hole of the distributing part. However, the testing machine, in general, is equipped with an electric driver such as a power transformer, and it is especially difficult to find dropped IC in a surrounding area of the electric driver. Thus, the testing machine for IC according to the prior art has no provisions to cope with insure and inadequate recovery of ICs in the environs of the driver.
In view of the above, it is the object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor element carrying equipment, wherein the semiconductor element dropped from a carrying line, which including at least one work stage, to the places inducing the environs of a driver is securely captured and recovered.
The semiconductor element carrying equipment according to the present invention carries semiconductor elements along a carrying line including at least one-work stage, the semiconductor element carrying equipment comprises:
a lower base member installed under the carrying line,
an electric driver installed on the lower base member for applying an electric power at least to the work stage,
an electric driver cover for covering the electric driver and,
a collector installed under the carrying line for collecting the semiconductor element dropped from the carrying line,
wherein a slope surface is formed on the electric driver cover and the slope surface guides the semiconductor element dropped on the electric driver cover to the collector.
Furthermore, the semiconductor element carrying equipment according to the present invention is featured wherein the semiconductor element is a semiconductor integrated circuit~t device with plural lead wires and the work stage is an external appearance inspecting stage for inspecting the appearance of the lead wires of the semiconductor integrated circuit device.
Furthermore, the semiconductor element carrying equipment according to the present invention is featured wherein the semiconductor element is a semiconductor integrated circuit device including plural circuit elements and plural lead wires, and the work stage is an inserting and extracting stage for inserting the leads wires of the semiconductor integrated circuit device to a socket for inspecting an electric circuit of the semiconductor integrated circuit device, and for extracting the lead wires from the socket.
Furthermore, the semiconductor element carrying equipment according to the present invention is featured wherein the collector has a slope for guiding the semiconductor element dropped from the carrying line to a collector outlet and a semiconductor element collecting vessel installed at the outlet.
Furthermore, the semiconductor element carrying equipment according to the present invention is featured wherein the collector has the slope for guiding the semiconductor element dropped from the carrying line to a collector outlet and a nozzle for blowing an air toward the collector outlet along the slope.
The semiconductor element carrying equipment according to the present invention has the following effects.
The semiconductor element carrying equipment is configured with the lower base member installed under the carrying line including at least one work stage, an electric driver for supplying an electric power at least to the work stage, an electric driver cover for covering the electric driver and a collector installed under the carrying line for collecting the semiconductor element dropped from the carrying line. Moreover, as a slope surface is formed on the electric driver cover and the slope surface guides the semiconductor element dropped on the electric driver cover to the collector, then the semiconductor element dropped into the environs of the electric driver can be easily found and securely recovered
Furthermore, dropped semiconductor element from the carrying line is easily found and recovered in the same manner as mentioned above regardless of whether or not the work stage is the appearance inspecting stage for inspecting the lead wires of the semiconductor integrated circuit device or the inserting and extracting stage of the lead wires of the semiconductor integrated circuit device using the socket for testing the electrical circuits of the semiconductor integrated circuit device.
Furthermore, by forming the slope on the collector for guiding dropped semiconductor element to the collector outlet, the semiconductor element dropped from the carrying line to the places such as the environs of the driver is securely and easily recovered.
Furthermore, by installing the nozzle for erupting the compressed air to the collector outlet along the slope of the collector, the semiconductor element hanging or hooking on the way during dropping from the carrying line is forced to be guided to the collector outlet for surer recovery.